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singer/songwriter

In the Indie artist world, there’s no question that country/folk star and hall of famer Luanne Hunt has made her mark.

Throughout her illustrious career, the award-winning singer/songwriter has built an impressive list of accomplishments, including scoring numerous No. 1 hits on Independent country music charts around the world.

She is best known for her chart-topping single, “Christmas Without You,” which was recently named by Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, one of the top 25 Christmas songs of all-time

“Christmas Without You” also landed on two “Best of 2015 Female Country Holiday Songs” lists in the major online U.S. publications, Autostraddle and Truckers News.

“Being on these lists with so many A-listers felt like a real accomplishment,” said Hunt, whose studio musicians have backed everyone from the Righteous Brothers to Kenny Loggins. “It’s a huge challenge to find success in the ‘big leagues’ as an Indie artist, so these honors were quite a validation for all the work I’ve put into my craft.”

Hunt, who was recently inducted into the Independent Superstars Country Music Hall of Fame, has been working hard at making quality music for twenty years. Her efforts paid off big time in 2007 when her CD, “Breaking Through,” produced two hit singles on U.S. and European Charts. The enchanting “Solace in The Wind” reached No. 1 on the European Country Music Association’s chart (Belgium) in July, 2010.

It also peaked at No. 37 on the Indie World Country Chart, which is the largest and oldest independent music chart in the genre.

Additionally, the song landed on the 2009 Grammy ballot in two categories: Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance.

In 2012, Luanne’s Gospel tunes, “He Was There,” “There Is A Fountain” and “Pine and the Dogwood” landed at the No. 1 spot on Europe’s premier Hotdisc Christian chart. Her song “I Want to Stand Where Jesus Stood,” earned a spot on the 2009 Grammy ballote for “Best Gospel Song.”

Hunt’s most recent chart-topper, “Texas Tears,” has been hailed by fans and critics as one of the best country songs to come along in years.

“The most important aspect of Luanne Hunt’s music is her authenticity,” said Brett David Stewart of the Independent Spotlight Music Blog. “‘Texas Tears’ feels like country music straight out of the heart of America; something sorely lacking in the popular modern avenues of the genre.

“It’s a modern ‘That’s How I Got To Memphis.’ From the lovely harmonies to the excellent production, everything accentuates Hunt’s presence as an interpreter perfectly.”

Hunt began pursuing a professional music career in the mid-1990s. She found immediate success with her critically-acclaimed single “I Don’t Bother Counting,” which was frequently played on the former KIK FM country radio station in Orange County, California and on other stations throughout the Southwest.

Over the years, Hunt’s songs have been played on AM, FM, satellite and Internet stations around the world, including Pandora radio. In addition, she is a three-time Hollywood Songwriting Awards winner.

BONUS:
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

JaNae Contag is an artist, curator, musician, a lecturer at two universities, and runs a studio where she produces photographic work for clients and collaborators. She has spent her artistic career looking at the connections she finds in the world and making visual cultural critiques of the ideas she encounters in her life. Our conversation focuses on how she finds new ideas and connections in her work and personal life as well as what she tells her photography students who are just starting their career.

MEET JANAE CONTAG:

JaNae Contag received her BA in Studio Art, Political Science, and Spanish from Trinity University in San Antonio and her MFA in Visual Art from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Contag’s work deals with aspirational middle-class America, idiosyncratic moments in which tourism and elitism co-exist (malls, airports, lifestyle centers, megachurches, cemeteries), and overlooked architectural elements that reveal a checkered history of dwelling, shopping, and consuming. Her work has been exhibited at Central Booking, New York, Intersect Art Center, St. Louis, The Luminary Center for the Arts, St. Louis, Points North, Farmington, Maine, and Trestle Projects, Brooklyn, among others. Giving Up the Ghost was completed through a grant from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. Contag lives in Chicago and teaches Photography and Film & Video Production DePaul University and at The Illinois Institute of Art – Schaumburg in addition to freelancing as a co-owner of Concrete Imaging. She is also working on recording and production for a full-length synth pop album under her music pseudonym, NAE. Her other current collaborative projects include a feature-length documentary about the former Chicago Mayor, Harold Washington, as well as a podcast called Unfolding Six Points, about esoteric Chicago history.

BONUS:
This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. Click on the link to get a 30-day free trial, complete with a credit for a free audiobook downloadAudible.com

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Stefanie Jasmine is not your typical country music singer. She has a background as a mortgage broker and currently runs a real estate investment company. This is a different approach from what most musicians take but it’s one that has given her freedom to make artistic choices that are not based on money. Our interview is full of great advice and tips especially if you’re interested in real estate and having another source of income.

MEET STEFANIE
With powerhouse vocals and a fierce stage presence, Stefanie Jasmine has made a name for herself in the New England country scene.

A New England native, Stefanie knew from a young age that her true passion was music. As part of a close-knit family, Stefanie would often listen to country music with her mom, and grew to love the genre from youth. Stefanie enlisted the help of vocal coaches beginning at the age of 15, and often performed at local fairs and events. After winning multiple vocal competitions, she grew the confidence to pursue her career in music.

In early 2012, she ventured out and started a country cover band, aiming to gain experience and exposure as an entertainer. Whiskey Wild was born- and what a wild ride it was. Whiskey Wild became New England’s most popular country band in just several months after starting up, which is simply unheard of in the music scene. Stefanie has performed at every premiere venue in New England from Loretta’s Last Call (Boston) to Wally’s (Hampton Beach), to Toby Keith’s Bar (Foxboro).

After moving on from Whiskey Wild to pursue her solo project, the crowds continue to come, and the doors continue to open. She has shared the stage with big names in country music such as Lee Brice and Jerrod Neiman.

Stefanie now splits her time between Nashville and New England and continues to record and release music. She regularly tours New England and does occasional shows in Nashville as well. Inspired by artists such as Gretchen Wilson, Miranda Lambert, and Wynonna, Stefanie stated: “I love writing music that makes people want to jump up and dance and sing along”.

Her first single was co-written by herself and Erin Murphy-Dunn. “Long Gone” was produced by Paul Rippee who currently tours with Lee Brice. The song gained recognition from New England country radio and various internet radio stations. “Long Gone” is now available wherever you can buy or stream music.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. Click on the link to get a 30-day free trial, complete with a credit for a free audiobook downloadAudible.com

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Jillian Speece and her husband Nathaniel are from my hometown of South Bend, Indiana and have been making music together since they met in high school. When they first started playing music they would approach local restaurants and talk them into letting them play in a spare room with the promise of bringing in a lot of people who would come and buy food. They have come a long way from those days but the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive in everything they do. Jillian and I speak at length on how she and her husband started her band, how they run the business of their band, and crowdfund their big ideas. Jillian and I had the most South Bend conversation I have ever had outside of Indiana that didn’t involve Notre Dame Football. Enjoy.

Meet Jillian:Jillian Speece is a singer-songwriter and activist in the Brooklyn-based band The Bergamot. This past year she toured to all 50 States spreading music and a message of unity-radical inclusivity for all people on The Unity Collective USA tour. She is a food enthusiast and is devoted to sharing simple, vibrant, plant-based recipes on her blog TheDistractedBeet.com. Her catchphrase is Shine ON as the reminder to all that they are made of light and love.

BONUS:
If you see Jillian please ask her to sing “El Shaddai” by Amy Grant

BONUS:

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. Click on the link to get a 30-day free trial, complete with a credit for a free audiobook downloadAudible.com

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

“I don’t believe in being a tortured artist. There are times where you will be in the middle of it and it will feel torturous It’s up to you to decide how you’re going to get through it.”

I could sit and listen to Allee tell stories about her life for hours. She was generous enough to give me 45 min of her time and tell me about how she went from a journalism student to a Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award winning songwriter and much much more. This interview is so full of amazing material on how Allee works, thinks, and approaches projects that it’s worth listening to multiple times.

MEET ALLEE WILLIS:

ALLEE WILLIS is a one-woman creative think-tank and multi-disciplinary artist. She’s a Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Webby award-winning and nominated songwriter, performer, visual artist, multimediaist, director, collector, social artist, party thrower. Willis’s songs have sold over 60,000,000 records, including Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” and “Boogie Wonderland,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Patti LaBelle’s “Stir It Up,” Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”, Maxine Nightengale’s “Lead Me On”, and the Tony-winning Broadway musical, The Color Purple. Willis won a Grammy for Best Soundtrack for Beverly Hills Cop and was nominated for an Emmy for “I’ll Be There for You,” the Friends theme. Willis developed a social network as early as 1992, with Mark Cuban joining as CEO in 1993. She also addressed the U.S. House of Representatives on artists’ rights in cyberspace as early as 1997. Willis is presently working on a massive project for her hometown, Detroit, where she recorded and filmed a song she wrote for the city, “The D”, with more people in history, 5000, than have ever been on a record before. As a collector, she has one of the largest collections of 1950’s-1970’s Soul, Kitsch and Pop Culture collections in the world. Willis also appears on the hit TV series, Storage Wars.

This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. Click on the link to get a 30-day free trial, complete with a credit for a free audiobook downloadAudible.com

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY:
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.